Pheonix Feathers
by TheseBrokenWings
Summary: On hold, probably permenantly. Tobias has started a new life across the country, but what will become of that life when the time matrix is recovered? Will he be forced to choose between the man he loves and the woman he loved?
1. First Impressions

Tobias landed, talons clamping around a metal railing. Flapping his right wing a few times against the railing's slight tilt, he hopped down to the ground, huddling against a wall, and began to morph. Human. He focused on the now very unfamiliar image of himself, giggling with wonder when fingers emerged from his wing. He had missed opposable thumbs, if nothing else. He stood up unsteadily, holding his arms out to his sides for balance as he took his first few steps. He bent over, rummaging under the bushes. Ah, here it was. He pulled out the bag of clothing he had stashed here a few weeks ago for this purpose. He pulled on the clothes. They were too small, but alright. He didn't think he would have grown, but he had. He was much taller now, although still far too skinny, he thought. He walked up the ramp, starting back slightly as the doors slid open of their own accord, but then laughing at himself. He'd forgotten so much about being human. Catching a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the glass doors, he stopped stock still and stared. He remembered himself as a young teen, the last time he had been human somewhere which wasn't secluded he'd been… what, 16? 17? But that had been five years ago, and to his surprise he had ages. He looked grown up now, and good, although a bit silly with his too short jeans. Pulling himself away, he went on. He was here just for one thing; something the human in him wouldn't allow him not to do. In the past years, since Rachel had died, he had stayed alone, as a hawk, in his meadow where he had scattered her ashes, but then it had gotten too sad, and he had flown slowly across the country, finally settling in New Jersey. He had found a small field, filled with barely enough rodents to sustain him, near a highway. But he liked being near people, he found, even if he wasn't really ready to be one again. He liked watching. The only contact he had had with humans was sending an editor his manuscript. He had always said he would write a book about red tails, and he had. He knew the editor would publish it without a second thought. He read news papers whenever he could, and the Animorphs were still big. Ax, his shorm, had gone back to the Andalite home world and rarely came back to earth to visit the others, but he was a war-prince like Elfangor now, so that was understandable. Cassie was a big environmentalist, Jake was high up in the army, and of course Marco was a huge celebrity. He had written a couple of books, and with how well they had done, no publisher was going to turn down Tobias's own book. There had been a huge rush to buy it at first, but Tobias expected it to fall off the best-seller list quickly once people realized that there was nothing about being an Animorph in it, it was just about hawks. But the writer in Tobias wanted to see it in print. He stopped in front of the help desk. The lady looked up from her computer, looking enquiringly at him. Tobias started to speak, coughing when no sound came out, and then continuing, "Um... where're the non-fiction books, please?" She pointed, and Tobias followed her finger, walking through the isles. He had expected that no one would recognize him, the only picture he could remember anyone having of him was Rachel's, and he was sure her mother still had it. Rachel. He didn't want to think about Rachel, not now. He shook his head, as if to dislodge the thoughts. Running his finger along the shelf across the book jackets, he came upon his name. Smiling widely, an action that almost surprised him as he had almost forgotten how to make facial expressions, he pulled it out. He walked over to a cluster of arm chairs arranged in a circle in a corner of the library. Sitting down in one, he opened the book reverently to the title page. The sight of his name in print pleased him more than he even thought it would. Every since he was a little boy, all he had wanted to do was write a book. Well, along with meeting a dinosaur, going to space, and to fly. But he'd already achieved all those goals.

"You're Tobias, aren't you?"

He looked up, startled, into the smiling face of a handsome young man. He had shoulder length black hair, and striking blue eyes. Tobias grimaced uncomfortably at him, shaking his head. "Um, no, you must have the wrong person." The man raised an eyebrow at him, then laughed and slid into the chair beside him, picking the book deftly out of Tobias's hands. "You couldn't resist coming to look, could you? I love that. It's so like you, though I must admit I'm surprised to see you here. I was sure you'd never leave Cali."

Tobias glared at him. "Who are you, and why do you claim to know so much about me?" He asked, standing up to tower over the man. "I could be something extremely deadly in about a minute, but I'm sure you know that."

He looked surprised, dejected "Hn… I know you could. Sorry. I'm Jordan, and I've wanted to meet you ever since I first heard your name." He slumped over in his chair, almost sulking.

Tobias didn't know why, but he immediately felt bad. The last thing he would ever have wanted was to meet a -gah- fan, but there was something about this Jordan person that made him want to be kind to him. He felt almost like he had just kicked the biggest puppy in the universe. "Ah…really? Why?" He asked, sitting down again, but uneasily, on the edge of the seat. Jordan looked up at him, eyes glittering. "I don't want you to think I'm weird and some sort of stalker or something, it's not that at all. Just... when the Yeerks came, and it was so terrifying for everyone… I read about you, and what you had gone through, all of the Animorphs, but especially you, and it just seemed so… incredibly noble, and beautiful, and I so wanted to meet you. That's all." He looked down at Tobias's book in his lap, opening it to a picture of a hawk in flight. His fingers traced the line of the wing, the tearing beak. "What you did…" He looked up, staring into Tobias's eyes fiercely. "It's beyond amazing. You gave up everything, Tobias, you-"

Tobias cut him off angrily. "I know what I gave up." He told Jordan, curtly, sounding entirely unlike himself. "I don't need you to tell me. This served to please Jordan more than bother him, because he smiled, straightening up and closing the book, though his fingers still curled around it tightly.

"I know that. I know, but I wanted to talk to you about everything. I wanted to hear your story. No one knows anything about you, you know, or at least no one who is talking… It's clear from Marco's books that though he really loves you as much as he does the others, he doesn't know you. The only one I'm sure did was…"

Tobias got up, wrenching the book from Jordan's hands. "Don't you dare say her name." He told him, angrily, and, stuffing the book back onto a shelf, he strode away, outside.

Such was their first meeting.


	2. Aftermath

Jordan walked down the hill from the library, balancing on a narrow strip of concrete beside the highway. Weehawken was impossible to get out of. Anyway, it wasn't like he was looking for Tobias…Gah. He wished he had, if he had he wouldn't have made such a huge fool of himself! That hadn't been the way he wanted it to go at all, he had just been thinking of what he would say if he ever met Tobias if he met him, and there was so much that it had all poured out of him. He cursed inwardly, kicking a stone hard into the street. He had been fifteen when the world had found about the Yeerks. Before that, he was just a pretty normal kid. He went to Stuyvesant, one of the best high schools in the country, something he was very proud of at the time. He was smart, but he didn't do anything in most of his classes preferring instead to hang out with his numerous friends. He detested sports. But then the Yeerks had come, and his world had been flipped upside-down. Of course, so was everyone's. He supposed there were a great many children who had returned home, happy, to find their parents aiming what he now knew were dracon beams at them. But he didn't think many had, when confronted with the large slug, floating in his fish tank near the remains of his goldfish, had kicked his mother's legs out from under her, grabbed her dracon beam, vaporized his father's head, and run, stopping only to grab his ferret Elliot from his cage.

He reached the water, paid two dollars for a ticket, and got on the ferry, slumping down in his seat, his head in his hands. He had thought that he was a murderer until he read about the Animorphs. Who knew how many lives they had taken, but they were still… Heroes. It had made him think, maybe, it was alright what he had done. And Tobias… he was alone, too, just like Jordan was after that.

Tobias flapped his wings hard, as grateful for them now as he had ever been. You would never have known it looking at him, he knew, but back when he had been human, he had loved running. When his aunt had refused to let him go to school, sending him out for groceries, or when his uncle had hit him, he would run as far and as fast as he could, dreaming in his head of never going back. He would run as long as he could, until he was near collapsing. Then he would make his way back, ready to be humble and deal with them again. But there was something about flying, hard and fast, wings straining against the wind, that was far better than those runs. If he were to collapse, there would be a much farther way to fall. And now, he really could leave. There was nothing to left to leave behind; he'd already lost all that mattered. His wings aching, he landed on a power cable pillar, talons digging into the familiar grooves. He scanned his scrawny meadow, noticing with distaste the yellowed grass, abandoned cigarette butts. He over looked the Lincoln tunnel too, a steady stream of cars lining up to drive to the city. Silly. He could just fly.

He was angry. Who was that guy to talk about what he'd… what had happened to… but he was too tired to think about it, and besides, hawks don't cry. Hawks can't.

And Tobias had been a hawk for a long time.


	3. Grass Stains

Their next meeting.

Tobias was flying. He wasn't going anywhere, he had no where to go. He wasn't hungry, having already made a good meal of an elderly mole, no, he was flying for the pure joy of it; it was irresistible on a day like this. The river shimmered beneath him. Though it was hard to fly over water because of the lack of thermals, and although he was still a little scared of actually being in water, he had found he loved flying over this river. When he got high enough it was like a beautiful ribbon, wild and free, separating the grueling city he still wasn't really used to. He missed flying free over the mountains and forests and dry lands of California. He missed his friends. But, whatever, better not to think about them. He still had his wings. He tilted them downwards into a slow decent, spiraling softly down into Central Park. He liked it here. There was great hunting in it, and it was almost big enough for him to forget completely the city around it. And he had to admit, the human in him didn't mind the attention he got. One good thing to say about this city, they had a great appreciation for wild things. That was one reason he didn't come here too often, actually, there was another hawk, a red-tail, a famous one, who controlled this territory. He was quite beloved, apparently his name was Pale Male and he'd been here for years, he'd learned from the newspapers. Even if Tobias thought he could win in a territorial battle against him, he certainly wouldn't be liked by the public f he scared away their hawk. Not that he would. He didn't like messing with real hawks. He knew perfectly well he had nothing on a pure hawk in a hawk fight, no matter how much human intellect he might have.

He perched on a tree, overlooking Sheep Valley. There was a large stage set up at the end of the field, which was peppered with families on blankets, laughing and picnicking. He watches them, wondering what was going on. He hopped into the air, opening his wings and soaring low over them, noticing, with a start, Jordan. He was lying on a blanket near the front of the clearing. Tobias circled over him in a wide arc, pondering. Tobias had spent hours going over their conversation in his head. It had perplexed him immensely. He knew it was unusual to obsess over it, but hey, it was his only human contact for years and years. He'd decided he'd been much too hard on the guy, he supposed he was just trying to talk to him…making a decision, he flew off, out of the meadow, before landing behind a small building to morph.

Jordan lay on his stomach on a blanket covering the grass. The sun beamed down on his, its head seeping into his black jeans. His ferret lay beside him, a red collar and leash extending from his neck, the other end secured under a coke can. He lay on his back, fast asleep, furry belly exposed to the sun. Jordan watched his Elliot and smiled. He was in Central Park, waiting. There was a concert tonight, one of the free classical music things the city had sometimes in the summer. It was going to start pretty soon, when the sun set, but Jordan had been there for hours. You had to get there early if you wanted a good seat, and Jordan liked being right up front. He loved being out in the park, so it didn't bother him, and Elliot loved it too. When they had first arrived in New York, they had spent their first night in this very meadow, listening to Bach, and Beethoven.

"Can I join you?"

Jordan rolled over, propping himself up on an elbow and looking up. Tobias. Oh, man. He could feel his face trying to blush and grin at the same time. "Sure!" He scrabbled, scooting over to make room for Tobias, grabbing Elliot up with a protesting yawn. Tobias sat down, curling his legs under him. A morphing suit, Jordan told himself. He must have just been flying over, and saw me.

"What's that?" Tobias asked, cocking his head toward Elliot.

Jordan held him out for Tobias to pet, which he did tentatively. "He's a ferret! He's my buddy, my Elliot."  
"Cute. I wouldn't even try for any prey that big. Looks tasty though." Jordan looked shocked, pulling Elliot back slightly, but Tobias laughed. "I'm kidding! I didn't even notice him when I was flying over; he's no prey of mine. He's a very cute little guy. Hey, what is this anyway? So many people."

Jordan nestled Elliot against his chest, relaxing back in the now twilight, his head drifting off of the blanket so that the green grass mingled with his long black hair. "It's a concert in the park. Classical music. I come whenever they have them, I love it. Haven't you noticed them before? They happen a couple times every summer."

Tobias shook his head, a human habit he retained ever now as he could use it as a hawk, even if it did look a bit strange. "I don't leave Jersey too much. But it was such a gorgeous day today that I wanted to come to the park,"

"Well, you are welcome to stay if you like," Jordan told him, hoping he was able to keep the slight pleading note out of his voice. "I know I wasn't so sane with you before, but I promise…"

Tobias cut him off with a wave of his hand. "No, don't worry about it. It was mostly my fault. I really am not used to being around people. I hadn't spoken to anyone before that for years, you know." Tobias eased back so that he too lay on the blanket, beside Jordan. "I haven't spoken to anyone since I left California. Why are you so interested in me, anyway? I'm really the least interesting of us Animorphs, you know. I thought everyone must have given up on me after those crazy reporters finished stomping my meadow to dust looking for me. Everyone seemed to have centered in on Marco. How many books does he have now, six?"

"Seven. But, I know this is going to sound really weird, I always felt the most drawn to you. You were an orphan for most of your life, you longed to fly… my parents were Yeerks, you know. They almost made me one, but… I ran away. I've been living on my own since then. 'Sept for my buddy Elliot here, of course. And, well… I've always wanted to fly. I'm sure it's amazing…"

Tobias opened his mouth to speak, but as that moment the orchestra struck up, and for a long time there were no more words from either of them.

Mozart played. It was dark, and the stars blazed down through the smog of the city.

"It's been almost two hours…" Tobias whispered into Jordan's ear. He'd fallen asleep sometime, his head somehow finding its way into Tobias's lap. Tobias his been listening to the music, but mostly he'd been watching Jordan. He hadn't noticed it before, really, but he was he was very handsome. His black hair pooled about his shoulders like moon-infested night, and his green eyes shone, Tobias thought. He did feel a bit strange though, lying here amongst so many people with the head of a very pretty near-stranger in his lap… "Hey! Jordan! I have to go!" He whispered again.

This time Jordan stirred, looking up at Tobias with those shining eyes. "Huh…? Oh! It's late. You need to…" he lowered his voice to a whisper, "Demorph?" Tobias nodded. He edged off the blanket, careful not to squish Elliot who still slept soundly, and stood up, preparing to walk away. As he turned, a hand caught his arm gently, and he turned back to Jordan "I want to see you again." He told him, even in the dark the pink tinge of a blush evident on his cheeks. He shoved a piece of paper into Tobias's hand, and with that sat back down, his back to Tobias, his face to the stage where music still played.

Tobias walked away, swiftly demorphing and soaring back, over the water, to his make-shift meadow. It wasn't until he was back in his roost that he looked at the paper, which he had held tightly crumpled in his talon as he flew. A phone number. Smiling internally, he quickly memorized it, then let the paper drift gently down to the ground, and went to sleep. It had been a good day.

Jordan sat on the subway, clutching his ferret to his chest and grinning widely. It was the middle of the night, and the only ones sharing the car with him were a pair of Andalites thoughtspeaking excitedly to one another. He didn't live in a wonderful neighborhood, but the Andalites, of course, had nothing to fear, and Jordan was far to elated to.

The world was very much a changed place. Everything, even the subway car he was sitting in, had been adapted for Andalite use. There were still seats for humans, but a good half of the car was now open space with hoof holds, for Andalite hands were far too weak to make use of the poles. Not that the Andalites had by any means taken over the world, no, they were just frequent visitors, and quite a few lived here now, although many more out in the west, and in other, less urban areas. There were farms all over to grow Andalite grass. There were even some Yeerks still living on earth. After they had been defeated, the vast number of those still on earth had died in their hosts, but the members of the Peace Movement had been allowed to live, in willing hosts of course. A teacher from the Animorph's old school was in charge of that, Jordan thought, a Mr. Tibbler, Tidwell, something like that. It was a huge stigma to be infested, though, even a peaceful one, so it wasn't talked about much. Each carrier was given a portable kandrona, so there was no need for any Yeerk pools. Jordan knew that those Yeerks were good, and that they should, of course, not be killed, but still… he would never have a yeerk in him. He hated them deeply, for good reason. But Jordan wasn't thinking about any of that at the moment. He was too happy. He had never really thought he'd meet Tobias, let alone have an, almost, sort of date with him. Jordan had known he was gay since he was, like, 12. It wasn't a big thing to him; really, it wasn't such a big thing in the world anymore. It was hard to dislike fellow humans when you had blue deer and big slugs walking around on the streets. Even if there were a few nutcases sometimes, there always would be. He had always been gay, and he had idolized Tobias, as he had so embarrassingly almost told him. But still, he had never really thought that Tobias might be… might…But he was in love with Rachel, Jordan told himself, stomach sinking. Even if he was, I don't know, bi or something, could he even ever be with anyone else? He couldn't think of anything more horrendous that losing someone like that. Tobias was… a deeply hurt guy. Better to tread carefully. But Tobias will call me, Jordan decided, his smile creeping back onto his face. I can feel it, he will. I know he enjoyed today like I did. He clicked open his apartment door and went inside, clicking the bolt back into place behind them. Yes, it had been a good day.


	4. And Isn't It Always Sunny?

Tobias stood in the phone booth, staring at the phone in his hand. It emitted an annoying, high pitched, beeping sound, and a strange lady's voice kept telling him that a receiver was off the hook, and to please hang up and try again. But he didn't. He just kept staring at it. Eventually, he replaced the receiver, and then picked it back up again to a dial tone. He dialed the number that had been rolling over and over in his head for the past week. Rinnnng. Rinnnng.

"Hello?"

Tobias resisted the nearly irrepressible urge to slam back down the receiver. He stammered, "Uh… Yeah, hey, it's me. Tobias."

"Tobias! I was starting to wonder if you'd call me at all. It's been a week."

Tobias blushed sheepishly, though he knew Jordan couldn't see him. "Yeah, sorry. I was just… yeah." He finished lamely. Not that he could say he was busy or anything, what was there for a hawk to do? The truth was that he wasn't at all sure that calling was the right thing to do. He didn't know how Jordan felt about him, but he was starting to… maybe… he didn't know, anyway, but still, even if what Jordan wanted was friendship, Tobias wasn't even sure if he could have that. He'd been terribly, terribly lonely these past years, but until he met this boy, he didn't even know it was because he missed people, he thought that he just missed Rachel…

"Hey, it's fine, man. But… this means you want to see me again too, right?"

"Yes!" Tobias answered, a bit too quickly. He was excited, regardless of how apprehensive. It felt good, to feel human again. Hawks don't feel apprehension, or nervousness, or even excitement. Hawks don't know any fear, but they also feel no joy but that of the hunt. This rush of emotions… Tobias had missed it. "Yes, I want to see you again."

"When?"

"Eh… whenever. Not like I've got much of a busy schedule…"

"Then today? I have to pop out to buy some pet food, but as soon as I'm done with that you've got me all day. What do you want to do?"

"You choose? I don't really know what's here."

"Hm… then we'll go to the Central Park Zoo." Tobias could hear the grin in Jordan's voice. "You can tell me what it's like being all those animals. Meet me at sea lion's pool; it's at the center of the zoon. I'm sure you can find it from the air. Be there at noon?"

"Okay. Sound's great."

"See you then, then."

"Bye!" Tobias clutched the receiver to his chest for a moment, unable to suppress the ridiculously wide grin that had snuck onto his face, then replaced it carefully, took to the wing, and soared into the air. It wouldn't hurt to get there early, do some hunting.

Jordan smiled, staring up at the ceiling. Tobias had woken him up with his call, but he didn't care. He was going to see him. Tobias. He rolled out of bed, quickly pulling on some jeans. "Come on, Elliot boy!" he called. Elliot stretched, yawning, then hopped down off the bed and chased Jordan to the kitchen. He danced at the base of the refrigerator, waiting. "I know, I know, greedy bugger." Jordan teased, as he took Elliot's chicken puree out of the fridge, scooping some onto a plate, and then placing it in front of the ferret, who attacked it gleefully. "There ya go. Good boy." He told him. Jordan stretched himself, going into the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, running a hand through his long hair. He was going to see Tobias. He set out to do his daily chores.

When he was done, and Elliot was safely confined to Jordan's bed room with fresh food, water and a few new toys (Jordan could never resist), Jordan set out for the park. He arrived early, so after paying his admission, he sat on the stone steps near the sea lion tank and watched them. The zoo was pretty near empty as it was a school day, so Jordan was all alone but for a few tourists, and the zoo keepers who eventually came out to give the sea lions their fish, so he was startled when he heard Tobias's voice.

Been here long? Sorry I'm a little late, I was battling a particularly intelligent mouse. 

Jordan looked around, and then up. He saw a hawk perched in a tree behind him. He got up, standing in front of Tobias. "Hey! I've never heard thought-speak before, that was weird."

Tobias's laughter filled his head. Don't talk to me like this, people are going to think I'm a rogue Andalite. Andalites' use of the morphing technology on earth was closely regulated. The Andalites were allowed to morph into particularly selected humans for the purpose of eating only, in enclosed areas, and never else on earth. They were absolutely forbidden to morph earth's animals. Jordan nodded, looking around quickly for anyone who might be watching. Good, now where can I morph human? Jordan waved him toward a bathroom nearby. Tobias scanned the area. They were alone. He swooped down, landing carefully on Jordan's shoulder. Alright. Lead the way. 

Jordan carried him to the bathroom, latching the door behind them. Tobias was so light, he was surprised. He looked like such a powerful bird. And gorgeous, of course. Those wings, that curved beak, those strong talons that were so obviously designed for killing… Tobias hopped off, landing on the floor. You want to… turn around for a minute? Jordan did so, though disappointedly. He had never seen someone morph except on TV, where it was all so edited that you couldn't even tell what was going on. He had read description of it, but still, he wanted to see it first hand. But there would be time for that later, he hoped. Now what was best was to follow Tobias's wishes.

"You can turn around now." He turned to Tobias, and smirked. He was still wearing his morphing suit, those too tight bike shorts and spandex tee-shirt. Tobias blushed, wrapping his arms around himself embarrassedly. "I don't have much of a need for clothing, you know! I couldn't remember where I ditched the clothes from the library, and…" Tobias trailed off.

Jordan laughed, holding up a white paper bag. "Don't worry, I figured maybe you'd need these." Tobias took the bag, rummaging through it. "It's not much, just some clothes of mine from like last year. They're a little too small for me now, but they should fit you just fine, you're a little shorter than me." Tobias pulled out a pair of black jeans, then pulled them on. They fit perfectly. He slipped on the black converse also in the bag, and topped it off with a tight-in-a-good-way pale green tee-shirt. The shoes were a bit too big, but when Tobias turned to Jordan, his heart skipped a beat, if you will forgive the terrible cliché. Tobias looked amazing. He had, of course, looked great even in his too-small kids clothes, and Jordan couldn't help but admit he had enjoyed the view the tight bike shorts had provided, This Tobias, with his messy dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and clothes that somehow reacted with them perfectly (Not to mention how nicely the jeans showed off his ass), was to die for.

"What is it?" Tobias asked, self-conscious under Jordan's gaze.

Jordan looked up at his face and grinned at him. "You look great, that's all."

Tobias shook his head, but he couldn't help but smile. "Let's go." He grabbed Jordan's wrist and led him out into the sun.


	5. Beginnings?

"What should we see first?" Tobias asked Jordan, turning to look at him.

Jordan tilted his head to the side, thinking. Then his eyes brightened and he grinned at Tobias. "Let's get some ice cream!" He took the lead, trotting ahead in his joy so that Tobias had to run to keep up with him. He stopped in front of a vender, pulling a wallet from his pocket. He peered over his shoulder at the other boy. "What do you want?"

Tobias examined his feet, rubbing the toe of his shoe in the dust. "I don't, um… have any money." He admitted.

Jordan slid his hand under Tobias's chin, pulling his head up gently to meet those beautiful blue eyes with his own sea green "Don't worry about it. What do you want?"

Tobias blushed a deep red, turning away from Jordan and pretending to be deeply engrossed in the sign advertising the various ice cream bars to hide his embarrassment.

"Been a very, very long time since I've had chocolate…" He murmured, "How about that one?" He pointed.

Jordan nodded. "A toasted almond and a chocolate center Good Humor, please." He paid for them, handing Tobias's to him with a regal bow. "Enjoy!" They sat back down where Jordan had been before, watching the sea lions.

Tobias nearly moaned at the first taste of the chocolate, causing Jordan to giggle through his mouthful of ice cream. "I told you I hadn't had any for a long time!" Tobias protested, which only caused Jordan to laugh harder. "What is it?" He insisted, glaring half-heartedly at the other boy.

"You're covered with chocolate." Jordan told him through giggles. "Here." Jordan reached out his thumb; wiping chocolate out of the corner of his mouth. Before Tobias could react, Jordan leapt up, tossing his Popsicle stick into a nearby trash can and holding his hand out for Tobias. "Let's go!"

Tobias smiled shyly, but took his hand. Jordan pulled him up, then let his hand go quickly, sporting a light blush of his own "Where're we going now?" Tobias asked.  
Jordan pulled a colorful map out of his pocket, examining it for a moment. "Well, the rainforest is right here, why don't we see it first? It's pretty cool."

"Sounds good." Jordan led them toward it. "Hey, why don't I get one of those maps?"

Jordan laughed. "Only people who actually pay to get in get them, if you fly in unannounced they don't feel a need to help you get around."

"Humph." They entered the rainforest through wood doors, then plastic strips hanging from the ceiling. It was hot, and humid, but then what would you expect from a rain forest? It too was empty but for them. Birds sang, some emitting strange, guttural noises, unfamiliar to these American boys. The trees stood tall and strikingly green before them.

"Look." Jordan said quietly. Tobias looked. Jordan pointed high into the trees. "A bat. That's a fruit bat." It hung, huge and furry in the trees.

Tobias watched it silently, and then turned to Jordan. "I was one of those once."

Jordan nodded. "To save the Chee's crystal."

"I was much smaller, though."

Jordan led Tobias to a bench beside a tank of piranha's, where they sat, gazing out into the small but dense forest. "I've read about it. But…Tell me what it was like."

They stayed in the zoo for hours, wandering around to see the various animals, and stopping for Tobias to demorph and remorph every two hours. But it felt like mere minutes to Tobias. The stories poured off his lips, stories of his friends, and their battles. He had never told anymore about them before. In truth, he had never had anyone he could talk to before except for Rachel, and well, she had been there on these adventures so why would he have told her? They had other, more important things to speak about… too much, in fact, far too much was left unsaid… but regardless, he loved talking to Jordan. He ate up the words silently, wide-eyed, gazing at Tobias in wonder. He had read about these adventures in Marco's books, in history books, but they were nothing like this… he saw them through Tobias's eyes, the blood, the danger, saw the emotions running through his eyes like wild-fire. He saw them dull with pain.

"What's wrong?"

Tobias stared silently ahead of them, into a huge tank. They were at the high point of the zoo, looking down over the arctic region of it. Jordan stepped ahead, pressing his hand against the cold glass and peering down into the islands of ice. Then he saw it. A large polar bear lay on the ice, sprawled out. He looked to Jordan's eyes altogether harmless, although he wouldn't have wanted to meet him head on, but that look in Tobias's eyes told him there was something bigger going on here… "Tobias…?" Tobias said nothing, he didn't even move. He just stood stock still, staring at the bear. Jordan was at a lack for what to do. It tore him apart, seeing this boy in pain, and he could almost feel it emanating off of Tobias now like an aura. He wrapped an arm around Tobias, pulling him in close to him. Tobias pressed his head against his shoulder, shielding his view. "What is it, Tobias…?"

Tobias shook his head violently, but then buried it deeper into the boy's shoulder. "One of those killed her." He whispered, nearly inaudible. "One of those killed my…my…" He started, looking up into Jordan's eyes as if realizing, suddenly what he was doing. "You should go."  
"No!" Jordan grabbed for his hand, holding it in his own. "I can't leave you like this, Tobias, not all alone."

Tobias lowered his head as if hiding his tears. "Please. Please go. I can't… Please go." He backed away from Jordan, turning and leaning against the freezing glass of the tank, staring fixedly at the great white creature.

Jordan stood there for a long time, staring fixedly at him… but after a while, he left.


	6. Blood and Tears Wash All Away

As soon as he felt the other boy walk away, Tobias demorphed. He was a hawk. Hawks don't feel grief. Hawks don't cry. Tobias wouldn't cry for Rachel. He could not cry for her. He was a hawk, and hawks _don't_ cry. Still, he stood there, watching the bear. He knew that this wasn't the bear that had killed her, no; it wasn't even really a bear but a Yeerk in morph, but…still. He couldn't get it out of his head…his Rachel, his beautiful Rachel, as she fell, bright red lines across her face, he neck twisted at an altogether unnatural angle. God, he had loved her. He could not for get that great, white bear, who seemed to grin even as the Yeerk's thoughtspeak broke out in laughter. Those huge, white paws, stained with her blood… Tobias stood there, staring. And eventually, he became the bear. He had acquired it in the arctic, when they were trapped out there in the cold, eluding the Yeerks and their strange ice aliens. They had watched it tare apart a seal, wrenching it through a far too small hole in the ice so its blood and entrails were strewn, steaming, on the ice, and then they had become it. Tobias became it now. He first flew into the tank, landing on the slippery slope of one of the icebergs. He concentrated on the picture in his mind, the picture of that polar bear's paw swinging toward his Rachel's face…

The first thing that happened was that thick white fur sprouted all over his body, his feathers melting away into black skin. His legs thickened, becoming huge, tree trunk like pillars of muscle. Two more formed from his wings, his light, hollow bones becoming denser, heavier. His body stretched, growing many times his normal size. A snout sprouted from his face, engulfing his beak. His eyesight dimmed, still good but no where near that of the hawk. But the sense of smell was amazing, and he smelled the other bear. He smelled the blood running through his veins. Tobias charged him. It hadn't even gotten up at the appearance of the other bear, just lifted its head. It was fat and lazy from his life in captivity, and no match for Tobias's wild bear, especially not when it was fueled with pure rage. Tobias leapt on it, swiping it hard with his claws. The other bear roared in pan as its blood poured out. It threw Tobias off, whirling around to face him, finally comprehending. Good. Tobias wanted to fight, wanted to hurt and be hurt. He wanted to save her.

He attacked the bear again, skinning his strong teeth into its neck. It clawed his hard, drawing a deep gash above his eyes, nearly blinding him with the blood. Tobias didn't care, he just kept swiping and slashing and biting until the bear fell to the ground, unable to fight any longer. Tobias raised his paw to deal the final, killing blow…and froze. What am I doing? He thought, as clarity flew up from the deepest reaches of his mind. What the hell am I doing? He couldn't save her. She was dead. She was never coming back, regardless of anything Tobias ever did. He had missed his chance to save her. Killing this creature would change nothing. He was already feeling lightheaded from loss if blood. He demorphed, leaving the bear. Someone would find him, help him, he would be fine. As for Tobias… there was only one place he could go. He took to the air, straining his wings against the still air of a summer night, flying as fast as he could. He had found the place before, calling information with the number to find the address. He had flown over, circling and trying to decide whether to call him or not. SO many times had he visited, in fact, that though his mind was dull with grief, he flew to it automatically. He alighted on the black metal railing of the fire escape. He could see Jordan through the window. He was asleep, sprawled out on his bed directly in front of the window, which was open but for a screen. Tobias cried out in a hawk sound, a scream of deepest pain, unable to remember a single human word. Jordan leapt awake, scrambling to open the screen as soon as he realized that the hawk already quickly becoming a human was Tobias. Tobias fell into his arms, unable to hold back the tears any longer. Jordan gathered the sobbing boy into his arms, holding him close against his chest. Tobias cried, his face buried into Jordan's chest, his arms, too, wrapped around him. He cried for everything he could never cry for before, for parents who abandoned him, for relatives who hated him, for the childhood he lost, for his humanity. He cried for the friends, the mother, and the home he had left behind. He cried for Rachel.

Jordan held him tightly, bewildered, but stroking his hair in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "Shh…Tobias… It's going to be alright…"

Tobias looked up at him, the tears halted for a moment. Their eyes met, sapphire blue with emerald green. Tobias shut his eyes tight against the tears still threatening to burst out…and kissed him.

He tasted like salt and rain, Jordan thought. Tobias's arms came up to wrap themselves around his neck, and Jordan kissed him back. He lowered him onto the bed, lying down next to him and drawing him even closer.

Tobias rested against the other boy's chest. He could hear his heart beating. And though he still wept, bitterly and painfully, he felt safe for the first time in as long as he could remember. Jordan's arms felt like home.


	7. Acceptance and Some Eggs

When Jordan awoke, Tobias was gone. He rolled over onto his back, sitting up against the wall, fingers playing about the cold sheets where he should have been. He was disappointed. Oh course, he should have known that Tobias couldn't stick around all night, he would have had to demorph at some point. Of course.

"You awake?" A familiar voice called to him.

Jordan scrambled out of bed, stopping only to let Elliot out of his cage next to the bed, and ran to the kitchen, the ferret bounding at his heels. "You're here?"

Tobias turned to look at him, spatula in hand. "Should I not be?"

"No, no, I didn't mean..." Jordan blinked, looking down at the stove "You're making eggs?"

Tobias laughed, scooping one egg up and flipping it over delicately. "Breakfast. You sleep late. I got hungry."

Jordan's brow furrowed as he was struck with horror "You didn't… of course you didn't… you aren't trapped, right?"

Tobias turned back to him, setting the spatula down, and all but tackled the other boy, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck, lips meeting lips hungrily. After a while, he pulled back, resting the tip of his nose against Jordan's and looking into those eyes… "No. I'm still strange, strange me. I woke up just in time, twice. Good internal clock like that." He grinned, turning once again back to the food, this time deftly slipping the eggs onto plates. "You're out of bread." Tobias informed him as they sat across from one another.

Jordan blushed, though he didn't know quite why. "I, um, I'm a little late on the grocery shopping front." He admitted, breaking a yolk with his fork, the yellow oozing out to cover part of his plate. He swirled the rest of the egg around in it, just watching Tobias.

"Hey there, little guy!" Tobias suddenly said, scooping the ferret off of the floor. "He was scratching at my leg," He said, looking up at Jordan. "What does he eat?"

"Oh, right, duh." Jordan leapt up, pulling a small plate and a water dish out of his wooden cabinets. He took a tray of the food from the freezer, plunking one of the portions down on the plate and then popping it into the microwave, which started to spin and buzz inside. "I make his food myself." Jordan told Tobias, as he filled the bowl with water. "It's called duck soup, but its really just pureed chicken and kibble." He took it out of the microwave, smashed it with a fork, and, picking up the dish and bowl called, "Time for duck soup, my Elliot boy." Elliot jumped out of Tobias's arms, chasing Jordan excitedly and hopping up onto the coffee table where his food was placed. He quickly dived into it. Jordan returned to the table and sat down, smiling at Tobias. "Sorry about that." Tobias laughed again, a beautiful sound to Jordan's ears. This Tobias seemed so different from the Tobias from last night, though he had been beautiful as well, beautiful but scarred, and sobbing. This Tobias glowed with happiness. Jordan took a bite of egg, smiling joyfully into his plate.

Tobias had been awake for what seemed to him for a long time before Jordan awoke. He had clambered back, out onto the fire escape, and sat there, drawing his legs close into his body and clutching them close against the morning chill. Was this wrong? Was this wrong? Was it? Tobias didn't know. Tobias had never really thought about his sexuality, in truth. He'd had some crushes growing up, sure, mostly on people who spared him from bulling, whether boy or girl. He'd had a big one on Jake. And he'd loved Rachel, loved her more than he could ever…ever… So, it wasn't about Jordan being a guy, not at all, it was about Rachel. Rachel, his… his first love, who was his first in so many other ways than the sexual first she had become for him the very night before she had died. She had known it, she had known she was going to die, Tobias knew now. That's why she had done it. And because she loved me, of course. Of course. She had been his first love, his first sexual experience, his first confidant, his first family, his first real friend. His only, only ever, for many of those. After that… how could he feel this way? How could he feel… safe, in his boy's arms? How could he touch him, kiss him, as he had touched her, held her so close he felt as if his heart was breaking and healing all at the same time, held her so their bodies felt no longer separate but one and the same, joined forever. How could he maybe, maybe… be starting to love Jordan, who was so different from his dangerous, beautiful Rachel, his warrior princess, his _love…_? Could he, was he even capable of loving another? Loving again? And if he was capable… was it right? Tobias didn't know. It felt like he was betraying her, almost. He felt like…

Suddenly, a bald eagle appeared on the railing, its huge yellow talons grasping it firmly. It stared at him with unfathomable eyes, stared straight into his heart. Tobias shook with fear. He stood up, extending a hand to touch the bird. It disintegrated into vapor, thin strands of steam twining the length of Tobias's arm. He groped at it; panic stricken "No!" He choked, twirling around, desperately looking for it, for her, but… Gone. Gone, but still, they had left something behind. He knew.

Tobias… I want you to be happy, my love. 

Tobias smiled a sad, faint smile, which gradually grew into a joyful one. He hopped back into the warm apartment, nuzzling Jordan's cheek briefly, and then continuing into the kitchen.


	8. Mistakes and Surprises

Time, of course, passed. They had more dates, many of them. They made love for the first time. Eventually, Tobias moved in with Jordan, and although it was a bit difficult for Jordan to be woken up every two hours so Tobias could quickly regain hawk form, although there were impediments, things that had to change for both of them… They were happy. Ridiculously so, in fact. Tobias opened a bookstore, close to the agency where Jordan worked as an advertising executive, so he was often picked up from work with a surprise kiss. Tobias felt really normal, for the first time in his life. He felt normal, content, and completely happy. There was a time, even, when he stopped being scared that someone would come and wrench the happiness from him, as he always had when he was younger.

This, of course, was a mistake.

"Sir, we're going to need you to come with us."

Tobias turned from where he had been replacing books on the shelves. Two humans. Two humans were no problem. Two humans with beamguns, the human equivalent of a Dracon beam though, were a problem, especially since he was already in his most ineffective morph. Ah, well. "What for?"

The men looked at him impassively, one straightening his very black, very expensive looking suit. "We need you to save the world again, Tobias," one said.

He looked like the kinder of the two, Tobias decided, so he turned his attention to him. "How did you find me?"

The man looked slightly nervous, looking down at his feet. "We're not allowed to disclose any information to you at this time."

"Why the hell not? What do I even need to save it from? And haven't I saved it enough already? You can't just force me to go."

"Actually, we can." The other man told him. Tobias hadn't noticed him fiddling with the power setting on his beamgun, which he now raised, and pointed at his head. "See you later, Animorph."

Tobias's world went black.

Jordan walked quickly toward Tobias's book store. He was late, he had been in a meeting, and things had gone on much longer than he thought they would… He hoped Tobias was still waiting for him, and not angry. Normally it wouldn't have been a problem, but Tobias had something special planned for tonight, he had told him, and made a special point of telling him not to be late. He was annoyed, at his job and himself. Bah, Tobias would make him feel better, anyway. It still seemed to him that all he had to do was touch the other boy, even see him, and something on his shoulders melted away and all he could stand to notice was him, him, him. He couldn't help smiling widely as he pushed open the door of the store. "Tobias, I'm sorry I'm late but--" It was empty, the lights off and darkened. It was strange that the door hadn't been locked, but Tobias was forgetful sometimes, it was probably nothing. Jordan locked the door and closed it tight.

It was a pity the lights weren't on. He would have noticed the singe of beam fire, blackening the very shelf Tobias had been standing in front of when they shot him. But they weren't, so Jordan left, and went home.

"Tobias?" He called into the darkness of their apartment. No answer. He went to each room, flipping on the lights and peering around them for signs of, he didn't know, anything strange. Nothing. He paused by Elliot's cage, scratching his head through the bars. Actually, that was something strange. If Tobias had been here, he would have let Elliot out. Jordan sat down on his bed, staring at his hands. He felt strangely numb. Tobias… Tobias certainly wouldn't have run off just because he had been late. No. Maybe he had gone out flying? But he would have left a note, he always did… Jordan clenched his hands into fists, suddenly inexplicably angry. Something must have happened to him. There was nothing else, no other explanation. He was scared. If something bad happened to his Tobias… Jordan shook his head, trying to clear it. He couldn't call the police, no, they'd tell him it wasn't a proper missing persons case unless he'd been gone for much longer, and besides it wouldn't be good to let people know that Tobias was here, in this city, Tobias wouldn't like that. So… he'd have to find him himself. Jordan left his apartment, leaving a quick note to call him in case Tobias happened to come back, and stepped outside. He crouched down in the entryway, hidden by the darkness, and began to morph.


	9. And So the Plot Begins

"I will _not_ speak to your inferiors, Crayak." The Ellimist yelled psychically into the darkness. He turned. "Drode, fetch your master. I know he can hear me."

"I am here, Ellimist." Crayak's voice droned from no where. "What is it you are you angry about? I was in the middle of making some very important moves."

Suddenly, the picture of a construction site appeared from the darkness, filling Crayak's sensors. "Your pet Animorphs again? We had a deal-"

"Watch." The Ellimist told him. He altered time-space slightly, and suddenly the picture became mobile. Humans run excitedly over it like the bugs they were to Crayak. A primitive yellow pulley device was positioned over a large hole in the ground, and seemed to be pulling something up…

The Ellimist could feel Crayak's smirk before the object even appeared. "This was not part of our deal, Crayak. Change it."

"I allowed you to create the boy."

"My debt has already been paid for that!"

Crayak shrugged physically. "Regardless, this isn't my doing. Really, Ellimist, you had to know they would find it eventually."

The Ellimist, fiery with anger, said nothing, but, with a twist of space-time, vanished from that plane of existence, reappearing far from his nemesis. He did not entirely believe him that he had not played a part in this, but nevertheless, there were things to do…

The Time Matrix had been found.

Jordan had not lied to Tobias. He would never have lied to him. He might, possibly, have emitted some things, though. He touched his sensitive dog nose to the ground, sniffing franticly for Tobias's scent. Ah, there. It was muffled, he'd been carried maybe, but that was him. Jordan took off in a fast run in the direction the two men had taken his lover.

Tobias perched in what had to be called a cell. Though it was, admittedly, nicely furnished, and equipped with a halo-vision, it was windowless, tiny, and smelled something like urine. Besides, any place begins to feel like a cell when you're trapped in it for two days. At first, Tobias had banged angrily on the door, calling for someone to come and tell him what this was all about, but when no one had come after the first few hours he had given up. He had demorphed, there was no reason to be human here, and the hawk's senses would be of much more use to him. When the door opened, he started back, but quickly recovered. He flew at the guard's face, raking his talons forward… but seconds before he would have destroyed the man's eyes, he felt rough, gloved hands grab his body, pinning his wings to his sides and his talons together, rendering him entirely useless. LET GO He yelled in thought-speak, though he knew it would do no good.

A man stepped out from behind the guard. He was dressed in an expensive suit, his hair slicked back, he was the kind of man that just emits 'evil bastard'. "Ah, Tobias. We regret the delay, but it was beyond our control, I'm afraid things came up. But we are, thankfully, ready for you now. It you would, please, become human? I feel altogether silly speaking to a bird."

I'd rather stay like this, thanks. 

The man smiled coolly, and shrugged. "Fine. Take him to my office and put him in a cage. And I want him watched at every moment, understand?" He turned back to Tobias, "We may not have quite the level of technology the Yeerks had when trying to contain you, but we aren't going to make any stupid mistakes, anyway."

Tobias did not answer. He had been a captive before, and although he very much did not want to think back on those memories, he knew it was best just not to say anything.

He was carried to another room, and unceremoniously thrown into a cage that did, in fact, remind him remarkably of the seemingly perfect, inescapable cubes that Visser 3 had used on them once. He scanned the room with his superior hawk eyes through the clear cube. It was empty except for his prison and a desk, with a chair behind it. There was another chair pushed off to the side, his cube was situated where he guessed it would be if someone behind the desk was talking to another person. There was a door, which stood open. Presently, the man entered it. He sat delicately down in the chair, turning to smile broadly at Tobias.

"Alright. I'm sure you'd like to know what this is all about, hm?" He asked.

Tobias glared at him, though he knew the man wouldn't tell the difference from his normal stare. No, I'm perfectly happy being imprisoned for who knows what by who knows who. Perfectly. 

The man ignored his sarcasm, going right into his speech. "Tobias, I am Captain Gregory Hatch. I command a special branch of the U.S. army. You don't need to know all of what we do, just know that we are in charge alien studies." Tobias scoffed, but was otherwise silent. The man continued, "The reason you are here, is that we recently discovered a strange cube. It was discovered, in fact, in the very legendary construction site where you and your friends became what you are today." He stopped to press a button on the desk, pulling up a computer screen which he turned toward Tobias. "Do you know what this is?"

Tobias managed to remain silent, though he could feel his heart beating faster, his thoughts racing, at the spinning, 3D image of the glowing opaque cube. The Time Matrix. They had found the Time Matrix. And that meant… that meant, if he could get at it, use it, that meant he could… he could change everything. That… still doesn't explain why I am here. Tobias reminded the man cautiously.

"No, you're right, it doesn't." He conceded. "We brought you here because we need you to test it, Tobias."


	10. An Alleviation of Questions

Pheonix Feathers- Chapter Ten

The Ellimist stood on his four hooves, graceful Andalite tail arched above him, all four eyes fixed upon a large, male Andalite running across the field. Even from the distance, he felt the joy emanating from the Andalite, the joy of any creature running free. The Andalite stopped, raising his weak, blue arms toward the sun, in the traditional ritual of giving up the spirits of the dead. As the leader of this tribe, he would have been part of the ritual, even if this death hadn't been that of his mother, the Ellimist's wife, Tree. With her death, the Ellimist knew it was time to leave. The Andalites, who he had made into a thriving culture, were safe under the leadership of his son, Flower, and it was his time to return to his battle…

Suddenly, something occurred to him. It wasn't quite like he saw the future, because he existed in all times, all at once, so everything that ever happened or would happen was simultaneous for him… but something changed. A deal. The Andalites would be fine, even without him… his own son, River, was nearly full grown, and would make a fine leader, if the Ellimist was any judge.

He let the Andalite body which he had inhabited for so long fall from his control, that aspect of his consciousness reabsorbing into his main mind. He altered space-time slightly, plucking his son from the planet he had grown up on, twisting his very DNA… and dropping him into the womb of another creature, in another, far off time…

You will save one who saves many, my son… He whispered into the mind of the creature, which was at this time no more than a mass of cells. And you will use your power well… The lifeline of his son, broken, and tied at a very different place, glowed blue for a moment, then faded until it emitted only a dim light. You will use the power of the Andalite's well. 


	11. Remembrance and More Explanations

Pheonix Feathers – Chapter Eleven

three weeks earlier

Jordan awoke with a start, sitting up so quickly that he almost roused the boy beside him from sleep, staring into the darkness of his bedroom. He'd just had the strangest, most vivid dream of his life. He'd been running in a field of strange, blue grass, under a sky filled by two suns, the name 'Tree' echoing in his head. He'd had four legs, and four eyes too—He realized he must have been an Andalite, and then he'd been wrenched into the sky, out of his body, and dropped somewhere dark, and warm… A word popped into his head, a word he'd only heard mentioned before in the books of the Animorph Marco, the word 'Ellimist.' Ellimist… There'd been a voice, too, a whispering voice… Jordan wrinkled his nose, shaking his head and closing his eyes, trying to make sense of it. Then suddenly, it was as another mind had merged with his own, but not quite because the other mind was his own, so as if a veil had been lifted off his memories so he could finally see them. His name was Flower, and he was chief of an Andalite tribe. His mother was Tree. But no, his name was Jordan, a human boy, and his mother was named Julia… And father was… there was that word again, Ellimist. Jordan struggled to remember what that word meant, but he was too caught up in memories of what fresh, clean water felt like as it ran through his legs, the way his spirit-tree's deep, slow, calm voice filled his head… And then the whispering voice from his dream returned, intoning it's own instructions into his head… Tell no one who you are, my Flower, and tell no one of your powers… you have a purpose, my son, a mission, you are to save he who is to save the world yet again, and that will be impossible if you stray from your path… when the time comes, you will know what to do. You will use the power of the Andalite well. 

The voice faded away, leaving Jordan only with the remembrance of whom the world Ellimist referred to. It meant father.

Jordan slipped quietly out of bed, making his way to the bathroom to stare at his face in the mirror. Part of him knew that that was him, had always been him, but there will still the nagging voice in the back of the head which was appalled at the lack of eye stalks, extra legs, and at that hideous human nose. Something occurred to him, his eyes narrowing at their own reflection. "What did he mean the power of the Andalite?" He murmured to himself. There was only one thing Jordan could think of, and that couldn't possibly be… Mind reeling so that he was almost numb to his surroundings, he crept back into the bedroom quietly, and, careful not to wake the sleeping Tobias, opened his ferret's cage, lifting Elliot out slowly. He held him against his chest, concentrating, until he felt the strangest tingling run up his arm, as if a tiny electrical current. He replaced the ferret, locking the cage door, then returned to the bathroom, locking this door, as well. He stood with his back to the sink, looking into the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Ah, well. He had always wanted to see someone morph for real. He concentrated on a picture of Elliot in his mind, thought of him curled up cutely on his bed, sleeping soundly. Jordan gasped loudly as he realized he was shrinking, the morphing abruptly. Laughing at his foolishness, as well as at the unreality of the situation, he concentrated anew, watching with excited horror as he shrunk down to Elliot's size, with no other changes. Suddenly, thick, black and brown hair sprouted from all over his body. He felt his bones sliding around, his innards dissolving and reforming. He fell to all fours, new, long claws clicking against the blue tile. He looked up at his reflection; swishing his tail to be sure it was really him. He'd done it. He was Elliot. Suddenly, the ferret's mind hit him. Prey? Prey? The ferret wanted food, but in a lazy sort of way, as if it was confident it would get it. More than it was hungry, it was sleepy. It just wanted to go to sleep. And that large, black thing something in the back of Jordan's mind whispered were pajamas, looked pretty comfy… he clambered onto it, and, curling up tight, fell asleep.

When Tobias woke up, he instinctively reached out, eyes closed, to the other side of the bed. Finding no one there, he opened his eyes, sitting up and peering through the open door to the kitchen. If Jordan got up earlier than him, he usually fixed breakfast. Tobias didn't see anyone, though, or smell anything cooking. "Jordan?" He called questioningly. No answer. Furrowing his brow, he got up, quickly pulling on a pair of Jordan's jeans strewn on the floor beside his bed. "Jordan?" He called again. He pulled open the bathroom door, stepping with distaste over the pajamas on the floor. Their place was a bit messy, sure, but did he have to leave his clothing everywhere? He reached down to pick them up. A ferret fell out, yawning and stretching. It looked up at him reproachfully for waking it up. Tobias raised an eyebrow, chuckling slightly. "Were you bothering Jordan this morning? Maybe that's why he locked you in here. Silly Elliot. He scooped the ferret up, snuggling him for a moment, but not long as he seemed to be in an especially hurry to be put down, so he placed him inside the ferret cage, leaving the door open. "Well, you seem to have a lot of energy this morning, so I'll leave you to run around the bedroom for today. Just don't cause too much trouble, okay?" He closed the bedroom door behind him, and began scouring the kitchen for a note, or something. Ah, well. He wasn't too worried. Jordan's job was demanding, and he supposed he could have been called away for an early meeting and forgotten to leave a note. Tobias would call him in a few hours. He made himself a slice of toast, munching on it as he pulled fresh clothes from the clean laundry, and, after combing his hair, left the apartment, locking the door behind him. He had to do inventory today, he remembered, groaning softly to himself. It was a hectic day, and in the midst of it, he forgot altogether to call his boyfriend.

Jordan awoke, dropped unceremoniously on his head. He yawned, then opened his mouth to complain. Nothing came out. It was about then that he realized that Tobias was standing over him. He doubted that Tobias had grown about a hundred feet over night, and the apartment itself with him, so that must mean… Damn it! Jordan yelled to himself in his head. The huge Tobias picked him up, holding his against his chest. Jordan scrabbled against his hands, ferret paws clawing him for all they were worth, though they did little damage as Elliot's claws were kept well trimmed. He would have generally felt bad for trying to hurt Tobias, but he was too panic stricken at the moment to care. What if he was trapped? How long had it been? What if Tobias noticed Elliot in the cage, as he obviously thought that Jordan was Elliot himself? What if he was trapped? Tobias placed him in the cage, saying something Jordan didn't bother to listen to, and then closed the door. Instantly, Jordan leapt from the cage to the bed, willing himself to demorph.

It was difficult, like climbing out of a pit of quicksand, but he did it. He must have been very, very close to the limit, but he was alright. He stared at his hands, fully formed human hands, almost unbelieving in what had almost happened. But he was human. He was fine. And, he went to check, Elliot was asleep under his blanket, so Tobias must not have noticed him. It was going to be fine. And now that the shock had worn off… that had been _cool._ Jordan smiled to himself, still staring at his hands, remembering that fur that had covered them only moments ago. It might be true that now he had a purpose… but since it didn't appear to have caught up with him yet, he was going to have some fun. After all, he'd always wanted to fly. He would figure out what he had realized last night later, as he would figure out who this person 'who is to save the world yet again' was later. Yes, today he was going to have fun. He stopped to pull on some clothing, and call in sick for the day, before he nearly flew out of the door.


	12. Old Friends

Pheonix Feathers – Chapter Twelve

Jake stared impassively at his General, waiting for new orders. He was working for the army; he had been since the end of the war. He didn't enjoy it very much, to be honest, but he couldn't really imagine doing anything else with his life. He didn't feel right, out in the world, he couldn't understand the people around them, and how happy they were. He was still living with his parents, but even they didn't speak to him much, not after he broke down and told them exactly what had caused his bother and Rachel's death. He didn't know if it was that they were angry with him, it was possible, they still really didn't understand the sacrifices that were necessary because of the war, after all, how could they? They weren't part of it. It was either that, or they were scared that he could have done something like that. It scared Jake too, still, that he had been able to make all the decisions that he had during the war. He felt like a murderer. He felt inhuman. So, he worked for the army. It was a dismal life, but it was what Jake could deal with. "Sir?"

In his thoughts, he had missed what the officer had said. The General looked at him impatiently, scowling. "I said that you're being transferred. We've got a special mission for you."

Jake nodded curtly. "Yes, sir."

"We'll have to knock you out, I'm afraid we cannot have you knowing where the facility we are bringing you to is."

Jake nodded again. "Yes, sir," he repeated. He stood still as the man nodded to one of the guards standing behind him, and then he saw no more.

Cassie soared over Red Wood national park, laughing in her mind from the sheer joy of flying. She adjusted her feathers, tilting her wings down into a dive. She spiraled down toward the huge, red trees. Though she enjoyed flying, she wasn't doing it pointlessly. She did try not to abuse her power, now that the war was over there wasn't a huge need for it, as there had been before. But in her line of work, it came in handy. A huge fire had ravished the forest recently. Normally this wouldn't have bothered Cassie, she had lived in California all her life, and she knew the importance of the fires that were so common there. Her father had taught her about them. She cringed inwardly at the thought of her father. He had died the previous year, of cancer. The Andalites had provided the technology that led to the curing of many human diseases, but not that one, sadly. She shook the thought away, resuming her examination of the forest below. Again, normally she wouldn't have been worried, but Red Wood trees were extremely endangered, and it wouldn't do to have this, the largest grove of them left in the world, burn to the ground. Thankfully, she and her volunteers had been able to stop the flames before they caused too much damage. Yes, it looked like the parts that had burned were beginning to regrow nicely. Satisfied, she landed on the ground, quickly beginning to demorph. As she stood up, morph complete, she saw a bright white light, and then darkness.

Marco lay beside his pool in skimpy, red swim trunks, sipping something cold and fruity. Though he usually would have had a couple of babes hanging around him, or a laptop on his lap, at the moment what he was holding was a book. He chuckled at the rarity of this occasion. But after writing so many books himself, it was the least he could do to read Tobias's book. Besides… he hadn't even seen his friend since Rachel's funeral so many years ago, and he had figured it would be nice to have some connection to him. And maybe he was imagining it, but he really thought that he could feel Tobias in the writing, though it was about nothing more than Red Tailed Hawks, someone who knew Tobias as well as he did could catch the traces of his subtle sense of humor, his pain. Marco laughed again, turning the page to reveal a beautifully photographed photo of a hawk in flight. That was something he was sure he wasn't making up; Tobias's love of flying was burned into every page of his book.

"Hello, Mr. Animorph."

Marco jumped, startled, the book dropping onto the slate ground. "That's me." He told the men, regaining his composure and flashing them his winning grin. He watched them, still grinning, though his mind was racing. There were three men, dressed in black, with what looked like beam-proof vests, armed with what he was sure were top of the line beam-guns. He couldn't imagine how they had gotten in. The Chee had conned him into having a ridiculously huge amount of dogs on his property, (Damn their ability to appear as anything… Marco just couldn't resist both Carmen Electra and Hilary Duff at once,) and they generally made a huge fuss whenever anyone was approaching. Besides, he had top of the line security, and many guards. He wasn't worried about anyone attacking his home, of course, but fans could be crazy sometimes… besides, how was anyone supposed to know how important he was if he didn't have an insane security system? "Hey, how'd you get in here, anyway?" He asked, boredly.

The man who seemed to be the leader sneered at Marco, the others keeping their eyes locked on their beam-gun sights. "That is none of your concern. You will come with us, or we will be forced to use force."

Marco raised his arms, palms outward. "Hey, I'll do whatever you want, men with large guns." He stood up, keeping his arms raised, eyes trained on the beam-guns which followed his every move. "Where we off to?" Apparently this was one too many questions, as the leader, rolling his eyes, fired his gun. Marco felt himself hit the ground, then his world went black.

They awoke almost simultaneously in a stainless steel room, seemingly devoid of windows or doors, though there was a ventilation grate in the ceiling. Marco and Jake looked at each other, both looking grave, as if at a lack as to what to say. Marco opened his mouth as if to speak, but was interrupted by a thought-speak voice. The bird will fill you in on why you are here, and what your mission is. Please do not attempt to escape from this room. There is a Bio-Filter installed outside the grate. You will be retrieved when we are ready for you. 

As it faded into silence, Cassie jumped up, running across the small room to a cage bolted into the wall. Inside sat Tobias, deeply asleep.


	13. Pain and Questions

Pheonix Feathers – Chapter 13

"How can she just talk to me," Tobias wondered, "How can they stand there and look at me when everything they are, everything they do screams to me or memories of her…?" He wanted to move, wanted to say something, to scream back at them, especially… especially at Jake. Truth be told, he had sort of a crush on Jake. Not anymore, of course, but how could you not fall a little bit in love with a tall, gorgeous boy who heroically lifts you out of a toilet? Alright, the toilet park killed a little of the romanticism, but still. But of course he'd nearly forgotten about all that when he had met Rachel. Even the first time he saw her, he knew that he would love her. And it wasn't her looks, no, though he she beautiful. He sensed a wildness in her, something so different, and yet akin to what was buried inside him, beneath the shell he'd built around himself, to ward off the pain. Beneath his soul itself. He had fought against it at first, when the mind of the hawk had forced him to recognize the fighter, the killer inside of him, but inevitably he had to accept it, even to embrace it. Rachel was like that, the same, though it took nearly nothing to bring it out of her. Her wildness was in her very step, her voice, her eyes. She was wilderness embodied; she was the bear, the bald eagle in flight. And, oh god, she was beautiful. And Jake… Jake, a boy he had admired, followed, loved like a brother… he had killed her. Tobias knew it wasn't really his fault, of course. He knew that. And besides… he had already resolved his feelings about her... or at least he thought he had. But now, he had heard Cassie's voice, and he felt the eyes of his friends on him, and all he could see was her face, and all he could hear was her voice, and all he could feel was loss, and pain, and, oh god, he missed her. He kept his eyes tightly shut.

General Tony Lawson of the U.S Army, special Alien Studies and Control division, sat in his office, his legs up on his desk, smoking a cigar. It had been a good day. Normally, he wouldn't be smoking in his office, or even putting his legs up on his desk; he was a bit of a clean freak in that respect, but it was already so messy that he figured it wouldn't make much of a difference. Still, he looked with distaste at the muddy footprints covering the dark blue carpet. The cleaning crew would be working late tonight. It had undoubtedly been worth it, of course. He took a long drag on his cigar, blowing the smoke up toward the ceiling. He grinned. After this, there was no way he'd even be in this office for much longer. He was going to be on to bigger and better things. This discovery was more important than the development of the beam-gun, more important than the morph-energy detector, more important than any technology the Andalites had made possible. He had recovered the Time Matrix. It was lucky he had, too, there was no telling what those bumbling construction workers would have done if they had known how to use it. Oh course, he thought regretfully, his division did not know exactly how to use it, either. There were only vague references to it in the records that the Andalites had shared with them, the Andalites themselves knew very little about it. But his division would concentrate its efforts on this project; it was the most important thing they had ever done. With the power held in this devise… they could control the universe. Not that they had any such ambitions, at least he didn't. But… the world had been growing steadily less trusting of the Andalites. Sure, they had helped them develop immensely useful technology, sure, they brought billion of dollars of revenue to the United States through tourism every year, but there as no questioning the fact that, regardless, the Andalites were infinitely more powerful than the humans, still. The secret of the Quantum Virus, or Programmable Virus, as the humans called it, still belonged to the Andalites. Andalite space technology was still more advanced than that of the humans, although admittedly not by all that much. Humans were capable of Z-Space travel, and their ships orbited their own planet, as well as their moon continually. They were making voyages farther and farther every year. But this… this would change everything. With the Time Matrix, humans were capable of anything.

"Sir?" A lackey stepped into this office, fidgeting nervously.

"What?" Tony asked, annoyed at being interrupted in his celebrating.

"Sir… the Time Matrix has vanished."


	14. Rebirth

Pheonix Feathers – Chapter 14

Jordan's dog nose was pressed close against the concrete. It was night, his way lit by street lamps and the occasional car speeding by. It was raining, which was extremely annoying, because it was washing away the scent. It even made the endlessly happy dog's brain sad, its whole world was scent, without it the world was just… boring. But Jordan had a job to do. The dog understood that, too, it liked having a purpose. But Jordan was wet, and he was tired, and he had lost the scent, and he didn't know what to do. He sat down on his haunches on the side of a road, looking mournfully out into the dreary darkness of the city. He loved Tobias, and he didn't know where he was, and this had been what his father had been talking about, this was what he was supposed to do, wasn't it? To save Tobias… He stood up, and began trotting down the street, desperately sniffing the ground. He had only two morphs, dog and ferret. He had tried desperately to find a bird morph, even going so far as trying to catch and wound a pigeon badly enough as a dog so that he could demorph and acquire it without it flying away, but they were impossible to catch, and the one he did manage to catch died before he had the chance to acquire it… not that he really thought that his becoming a pigeon would help Tobias much at the moment. He wished he knew who could have taken Tobias, and why. He couldn't imagine how anyone could even have known where Tobias was… who would have expected him to go so far away from where he was last seen? Jordan was clueless, and nearly hopeless. It was time for him to be demorphing, anyway. He stepped into a doorway, hidden from both site and the rain, and quickly demorphed. He had figured how to morph clothing quickly, but hadn't really expected to be out and about in it, so all he had on was a pair of bike shorts. And he wasn't anywhere near home, and he had no money. He crouched in the doorway, preparing to remorph the dog. He knew from Marco's book how tiring morphing was, especially performing morphs in quick succession to one another, but he hadn't imagined it would be this bad… as he began to morph, something caught his eye. It was a paper, lying on the sidewalk, soggy from the rain, but Jordan could still read the front page headline. 'ANIMORPHS MISSING! WORLD WONDERS WHERE THEIR HEROS HAVE GONE'

Jordan stopped his morph, quickly pulling the ears which had begun creeping up his head back to their proper places, the fur on his hands retreating as well. He stared at the paper, trying desperately to figure out what that meant. All the Animorphs were gone. That meant… well, everyone knew the papers were in the pocket of the government, so if it had been any official sort of human who had taken Tobias and the others, it wouldn't be in the paper. No other human would be able to take the Animorphs. In that case… the Yeerks were gone from the world, excepting the few peaceful members of that race. So the only logical conclusion…

Jordan had never morphed an Andalite. He remembered being one, and he somehow knew that he could become one if he wanted to, but he never had. He had been waiting… he didn't know for what, but until it felt right. It was something important, returning to something, to what he used to be. It was a type of homecoming, and he hadn't wanted to do that just lightly. But now… Jordan focused in his mind on the memory that was still all too clear in his mind, that of his own body as he was lifted away from it, away from the blue grass and the home he loved… He barely even felt the changes happening. He felt two new hearts awaken within him, his stalk eyes erupting from his head, his powerful, killing tail blade emerge from soft flesh… His four hooves clicked against the concrete as he landed, on all fours, a fully formed Andalite. It did not feel like a new body to him, and there was no other mind to compete with. It was simply him, as if this was who he always was, who he always should have been. He had not even realized how much he had missed his tail, until it was back. He turned his stalk eyes behind him, examining it closely as he swished it gleefully. He took off galloping down the street, looking every way at once, his tail arched high above him.

"Sir!"

Jordan looked toward the voice, noticing a policeman standing on the corner, looking exceedingly wet and annoyed. He stopped, standing in front of the man, carefully and slowly lowering his tail as not to seem threatening. Yes? 

"Can I see your proof of residence, or your visitors pass?" Andalites living on, or visiting earth, were required to carry identification attesting to these facts. "I normally wouldn't ask, but you were morphing without permission…" The human clarified, somewhat nervously. He fingered the beam-gun he carried at his side.

Jordan watched him with his main eyes, his stalk eyes pointing behind, as was his instinct. He wondered what he could possibly say. "Sir, I'm not an Andalite, I'm an unregistered Morpher?" "Sir, get out of my way, I need to go save my human boyfriend. Maybe you've heard of him? Tobias the Animorph?" No.

What he did do may have been even stupider than these options. He brought his tail blade up, striking over his head like a scorpion. He twisted his blade to the side at the last moment, hitting the policeman with the flat of his blade and knocking him out. Turning away, Jordan resumed running down the street.

He didn't get very far, however. As he turned the corner a few blocks away, he came face to face with a group of police, beam-gums pointed directly at his head. "I think you need to come with us, Mr. Andalite."

Jordan began to speak, but before he could form the thoughts, one man fired, and Jordan's mind went black.

Gregory Hatch? What kind of a name is that? 

General Gregory Hatch exited the office he had spoken to Tobias in. The difference between the room, and the space outside of it was downright shocking. The office looked like a normal military office, small, bare, cheap desk and chair, no decoration except for a few medals on a cheap shelf. But when Gregory Hatch stepped out, he stepped into a silver, stainless metal ship, lit by a soft blue light. On the ceiling were color coded lights, instructing those walking through the halls in which way to go. 'Gregory' immediately demorphed. When he was fully Andalite, he followed the other Andalite, who had spoken previously, toward the bridge, not bothering to look at the color codes. The ship was his home, and he knew her like the blade of his tail. It was the name of a cashier at a restaurant I visited on earth. He admitted.

Is the job complete, Prince Molaran? The other Andalite asked.

Yes, War-Prince. 

Good. they arrived on the bridge, looking out through the wide windows unto the emptiness of space. The Andalite home star was front and center, as it was their destination. It still was many millions of light-years away.

War-Prince… is the Time Matrix truly safe in his care? Molaran asked, turning to his War-Prince.

I would trust Prince Aximili with my life, he responded.


	15. Journey

Pheonix Feathers – Chapter 15

Jordan awoke. He swung his stalk eyes around, ignoring the pounding pain in his head. Human beam-guns were still behind Andalite shredders. Yeerk dracon beams had been worse, of course, as they were specifically developed to cause pain, but if he had been waking from a shredder stun, he wouldn't feel nearly this bad. He scrambled up onto his hooves, keeping his tail carefully neutral. If there was going to be a fight, he wanted to be ready. But if, as he thought, he had merely been very rudely stunned by the police, he didn't want to seem threatening.

Suddenly, he realized he was moving. These Andalite sensors of time and direction were quite useful, really. Of course, a true Andalite would have noticed sooner… he scowled, angry with himself. He seemed to be on a very small, very empty space craft. It was only about large enough for him to stand up, with about two feet of empty space on either side of him. They had they had left him no sustenance of any kind, so it had to be a short flight, he assumed. He didn't notice any hidden weapons, or cameras, or---

Wait. Time. He could sense time. And…

Damn it! He yelled in thoughtspeak, to no one, instantly beginning to beg his body to demorph, please, demorph, but no changes came. It had been too long. He fell to the floor, delicate Andalite knees bruising darker blue as he hit the metal floor of the shuttle hard. His whole life... gone. His job, his friends, gone. Tobias…

It didn't matter. He still had to save Tobias. And maybe… Well, Tobias had gotten his power to morph back, hadn't he? Maybe there was a way, somehow… But for now, he still had to save Tobias.

Where was he going, anyway? Up, away from the planet, certainly, but where did they send unregistered Andalites? They deported them. But even in top of the line Andalite ships it took weeks to get to the Andalite home world from Earth, and this was just an earth shuttle, tiny enough to be sure that there couldn't be very powerful engines on it. Besides, there was no way that there was enough food in this tiny ship to last him weeks. And Andalites were… Jordan was built for wide open spaces; it was why Andalite ships had the dome even though it was cumbersome to bring into space, Andalites needed to run. Here, he was enclosed in far too tiny a space, there was no room, there was no air, there was no way out…

OPEN! He yelled angrily, in open thoughtspeak. To his surprise, there came an answer.

We are sorry, but we do not understand your request. But, there are many tasks we can perform for you! Please do not hesitate to ask. 

Jordan smiled, a human whisper in the back of his head reminding him how strange it was to be smiling without a mouth. Where are we heading? 

This is a ZShuttle version 2700. We are on direct course to the Andalite Home World. We hope you enjoy your trip! 

What? Jordan demanded, There's no way we can be going there! I have no food, no water! 

We are well equipped to provide you with whatever you may need. Are you hungry? We have 40 different kinds of grass available for Andalites such as yourself, including-- 

Jordan blocked the computer's cheerful voice out of his head, closing all four of his eyes in an effort to forget his natural Andalite claustrophobia. He had to think. There was no way the ship would allow him to change its course, no matter how polite it was acting, he was for all purposes a criminal it was transporting, and he was sure it wouldn't let him over ride any instruction it had been given by the humans down below. So… he supposed he would just have to wait until he arrived on the home planet.

He was almost embarrassed by the excitement he felt in his hearts at the thought. The home world… he hadn't been there in many, many years… well, actually he'd never been there as Jordan, but he could feel the memories… he wanted desperately to go home. If there had been a way to go save Jordan now instead of going, he would have, he told himself, but there wasn't, so what did it matter if he was excited to go?

He realized that the computer had fallen silent. Erm… which ever you recommend, I suppose. Whatever Andalites usually order. And some water, please. He told it. Instantly, a small piece of the wall shimmered and vanished, a bundle of blue-green grass falling out onto the floor, followed by a sealed plastic bag of water. A dish followed, clanging loudly on the floor of the shuttle.

Thanks, He absentmindedly told the computer, quickly opening the water bag and pouring it into the dish. He stuck a hoof into it, nearly moaning with relief at the feeling of the cool, clear water running up his leg. He hadn't even realized that he was so thirsty, but of course it was going to take some getting used to feeling his thirst in his legs. When he was done drinking, he lifted his hoof out, shaking it gently to remove the water clinging to it, and pressed it down onto the grass, crushing it. As the nutrients flowed into his body, he raised his stalk eyes, again scanning the room. Computer, can you make a window? I'd like to see outside. 

Certainly! The computer told him, cheerfully. The walls went clear, allowing him to see outside. He was stunned. There were so many stars, and…

He turned around, completely unprepared for the sight he was about to see. It was huge, taking up nearly all of one wall of the shuttle. It was just far away enough so that he could see the whole thing, and it was daunting. A vastly huge ship, with scorpion-like tail arched high above it…

Computer, what is that ship? He asked

That is a prototype Andalite Dome ship. It is called the Starblade. It is currently adrift in earth's orbit, for an unknown purpose. 

Jordan bent his legs beneath him, lying down in the Andalite fashion. There was something important about that ship, he could feel it, but he had no idea what… He tried to think about it, but the food had made his drowsy, and his head still hurt… he fell asleep.


	16. Intervention

Pheonix Feathers – Chapter 16

Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill stared at the Time Matrix. He was a war-prince. A war-prince! And he was scared of this thing? It was just a white sphere, albeit a huge, glowing one. He felt at once attracted and repealed by it. He longed to touch it. Not since Elfangor had any Andalite, truly any _being_, had so much power resting on his tail. But still, he shook with the thought. He was glad that there were no other Andalites on his tiny ship. What would they think, to see the great Aximili tremble, in the presence of a mere object? Still… he knew what it was. He knew what it could do. With this object, he could do _anything._ He could go back to the beginning, kill Seerow before he could perpetrate his Kindness. Stop the invasion of earth, and save his friends, save Rachel. Save family.

The Andalite home world had not been a happy place after the Yeerks were driven away from earth. No one had imagined how deep their penetration into the home planet had gone. With their defeat on earth, the Yeerks had decided to rage open war on the planet. Few ships had been nearby to help, so the Andalite people themselves, women and children included, had risen up to help in the fight. The Yeerks had been eradicated from the planet, but not until many Andalites, including Ax's own mother and father, had been killed. It was one of his greatest regrets that he was never able to go see them again after the war on earth was over.

But no. He could do nothing. He turned his eye stalks to the bow, looking out into space. His small ship orbited his home planet, it taking up most of his view. It loomed before him, two suns faintly visible over the horizon. It was nighttime where his scoop was. Aximili lived alone, when he was on the home world, which admittedly wasn't often. He was an officer, so most times he was on his assigned ship, the Starblade, though at the moment he was in a small fighter-ship on a special errand. But even when he was at home, he couldn't seem to relate much to other Andalites any longer. They seemed… ignorant. Pointless, almost. Not that he was a human sympathizer, no; he had seen humans at their worst at the end of the war. The only beings he felt truly close to were his old friends, the Animorphs. Tobias especially. He had not seen Tobias since he had left earth, and though he was able to speak to him at moments when his ship was stationed near earth, (as Shorms, their thought-speak range was much wider than the normal range, like Mertil and his Shorm.) but only choppily, and for moments at a time. Tobias didn't really want to have anything to do with anyone, it seemed. Ax understood, he believed. Tobias was a vecol, too. Physically he was unharmed, of course… but his heart was crippled. He had lost his soul-mate. It was something no Andalite could hope to understand, but Aximili prided himself on the human in him. Or, he had. Now…

The humans were becoming far too much of a threat. He had been right in his predictions, so long ago. Humans progressed much, much faster than Andalites, indeed faster than any other race Aximili had heard of. They were now well capable of Z-space travel, and had developed their own sort of Shredders. In a few decades they could easily overcome the Andalites in technology! And that was something the Andalites could not have. They certainly couldn't have the humans in possession of the Time Matrix. They had stolen it, something Ax had brailed for its immorality, though he had been promptly ignored. The humans could not know what it is they had found. And Aximili had been trusted with it. His chest swelled with pride at the thought, though it was really just a privlidge, still, of being Elfangor's little brother. He was to hold it until whatever the Captain's plan was went into action. It had been a drag to fly all the way out to the Andalite home world, when he would just have to go right back to earth when he was called, but it was suspicious enough, having a huge ship like the Starblade undeclared in earth's orbit, and even primitive human sensors would pick the Time Matrix's energy signal from light-years away. Aximili sighed, gazing down at the planet below him. It was going to be a long stay in his tiny vessel; he supposed he might as well get comfortable. He trotted over to the small patch of grass provided for him, pressing his hoof into it, his tail blade still poised rigidly above his head. He knew there was no danger on the ship, but it was incredibly difficult not to be on guard constantly when he was standing but feet away from the most powerful weapon ever created.

Suddenly, the Time Matrix let out a loud, high pitched squeal. Ax instantly clasped his weak hands over his ears. That noise… he had heard nothing like it, not since the Howlers, on the Iskroot planet, so long ago… he cautiously raised his stalk eyes, gazing at the sphere. It glowed a deep, unnatural red.

The noise stopped as quickly at it had begun. A pale, soft blue, spilled over the Time Matrix, driving the red away…And suddenly, Aximili knew. Something, something had been changed. Ellimist? Ellimist, is that you? He called out, softly. There was no reply.

War-Prince Aximili! You are needed on the surface! We request that you land immediately! A voice barked, out of no where. Ax jumped, span around, and had his tail blade an inch from the view-screen before he realized where it had come from.

Haha, The Andalite on the screen laughed. Been confined in that crate for too long, Savior of the Humans. Come on down here, absorb some grass with us, tell us about the _thing_ you're carrying. 

Ax stood at attention. Yes, Council Member Falon-Garbek-Tagoush. I will be on the planet shortly. 

The view screen went blank, leaving Aximili alone, his main eyes on the home planet, guiding his small ship toward it, but his stalk eyes unable to tare themselves away from the Time Matrix, wondering…

Somewhere, the Ellimist smiled. That was unwise, Crayak. In a battle of pure will, I clearly prevail over you, you know that. 

Yes, filthy Peace-Maker. Crayak spat.

But when the Ellimist departed, Crayak smiled, too.


	17. Reunion

I know this is a long time coming, and I hope you guys are still around ;) I am suddenly in possession of a tremendous amount of free time, so expect regular updates D

Pheonix Feathers – Chapter 17

Finally, Tobias opened his eyes. The other Animorphs lay on the ground outside of his cage, sleeping deeply. They were obviously exhausted. Tobias assumed that they had been desperately been trying to escape. All except for Jake, that is. He sat on the ground beside Tobias, leaning against the wall, and looking forlornly up at the ceiling. He looked troubled.

Not that Tobias cared, of course. Jake deserved to be upset. He deserved to be hurt, he deserved to… No. That wasn't right, not now. These were his friends, and though it hurt, though he wanted to be away, far away in Jordan's arms… Jordan would be worried about him. He had to get out, get home, and he could only do that with the other Animorphs' help.

Guys…?> he called softly, directing the thought-speak just at the three of them, marveling at how easy it was, falling back on that list. Of course, there was one name missing from it, but he supposed that even the most powerful government agency wasn't stupid enough to kidnap an Andalite war-prince off of… well, wherever Ax was now. And, well… another name was missing, too, but this was not the time.

Hey? Everyone?> He asked more loudly. Jake turned to look at him, eyes staring up at him dolefully. He nodded once, curtly, but said nothing.

Tobias clicked his beak in exasperation, resisting the urge to knock it against the walls of the cube. Cassie! Marco!>

Marco awoke with a snort, sitting up straight and glancing around for the source of the voice with his dark eyes. He looked different, Tobias realized, which surprised him even though he knew it shouldn't. Of course things had changed, had happened while he was gone. He couldn't have expected time to stand still, not just for him.

Though it had in the past.

Marco's older, more lined face finally alighted on Tobias, and he grinned, pushing against the floor with his palms to stand up, and sauntering up to him with a walk Tobias remembered so well that joy welled up inside him just seeing it, this tiny, simple thing, which was part of his friend who he had missed so much.

"Hey, bird-boy! How's it going?" He asked cheerfully, bending over the cage in which Tobias was trapped and, in typical, analytical, Marco form, not looking at Tobias, but examining every inch of the cage for a way to free his friend. Furrowing his brow in disappointment at being able to find one, he looked at Tobias finally, quickly plastering on another grin. "The voice in the sky told us you'd tell us why we're here?" He asked, and Tobias detected, with his keen hawk ears, the undertone of fear in the other boy's voice.

Suddenly Marco was pushed aside a bit to make room for a lithe, pretty black girl, who wasn't, really a girl anymore. She had grown taller, a little, but aside from that she looked exactly as Tobias had remembered her, if a little more mature. Same short hair, braided, same dark, kind eyes. "Tobias? Are you alright?" She asked, worriedly, running her hand across the front of the cage, as if she wanted to touch him like she used to touch the animals in her barn, running her fingers gently over each bone and muscle, checking for injuries.

Tobias laughed, hunching his shoulders and extending his wings as far as the cage would allow him, ruffling his feathers. I'm just fine.> He twisted his head back and forth between the two of them, drinking them in, wondering at how glad he really was to see them. This is just like old times. I'm in a cage, Marco's scared but making jokes, and Cassie's trying to help all the animals.>

Marco chuckled appreciatively, and Cassie blushed. They were back again, like Tobias never left.

But he always knew that he could make it alright with Marco and Cassie. Marco was, well, he was _Marco_, and Marco wasn't one to hold a grudge. He left people alone, but was there in full form when you needed him, even if you didn't know you needed him. And Cassie, she wasn't one to judge anyone. And… she understood.

Tobias looked past his two friends, intense golden hawk eyes turning to the body, lying prone against the wall. Jake.>

Jake turned to look at him again. His eyes were blank, free of emotion and tears. That scared Tobias tremendously. He remembered being like that. He had been like that for _years_, hadn't he, flying around forgetting everything, using the hawk as a shield. Jake, he guessed was using this new persona, this strong, emotionless soldier.

Because before, during the war, although Jake had, sometimes, acted in that role, they all knew it wasn't true. Maybe he had to be that way when he had to make life or death decisions, but they could still see Jake in his bickering with Marco, his "don't call me prince" act with Ax, in the gentle, tender touches he shared with Cassie when they thought that no one was looking. He was still Jake. Looking at him now, Tobias couldn't see any of that anywhere.

Jake.> Tobias said his name again because he couldn't think of what else to say. There was nothing that would ever make it alright, nothing that would make Tobias stop blaming him, or make him stop blaming himself, nothing that would make her come back.

They stared at one another for a number of minutes, and though Marco opened his mouth to speak a few times, Cassie grasped his forearm, shutting him up. She knew that something important was happening, through the joining of their gazes, Tobias's hawk eyes which betrayed no emotion, and Jake's which couldn't.

Finally, Tobias spoke again, dropping his head down to examine a talon to break the connection. Come on, fearless leader. If we're going to get out of here we're going to need your help.>

Jake smiled. A small, strained, wisp of a smile, but a smile none the less. He stood, nodding, a thread of light appearing in those eyes. "Alright."

And with that, it was a little better.


End file.
